Bye bye Cherry, Helloooo Java: The (EASY!) Banister Makeover

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I am so crazy pumped about this makeover, you guys!! It’s something I’ve been wanting to do, since, oh, um FOREVER, and I finally just went for it last weekend. We hadn’t had a Saturday morning at home with zero sports in months, so we took advantage of those precious couple hours before the weekend kicked into full gear – the hubs cut the grass and did long overdue mulching and yardwork…and I started staining our banister?! It’s funny – I didn’t even know I was going to do this project when I woke up that morning, and by 9:30, I had a brush in my hand and not even an hour later, I was all done! It was crazy quick and crazy painless – and CRAZY easy. I have no idea what took me so long…

Let me introduce you to this lil’ beauty right here:

It’s called General Finishes Java Gel Stain. I had to buy it online, because they don’t sell it around here. (You can click this link: General Finishes JQ Gel Stain, 1 quart, Java to buy a quart size one!) I’d read about it on the interwebs quite a few times – and even told clients about it when they wanted to redo their oak banisters. It had an awesome reputation as far as ease and application, and I was living with a RED banister over here. Ok, ok, maybe not red red, but red enough that I thought about stripping it down and restaining on a daily basis.

Here it is (er, was…)

Oh, but the mess and headache that would be stripping and staining a banister, right?! Ugh. You can understand why I was in no hurry to tackle that project…

Until I read about this gel stain stuff!

Barely any time and mess at all, and now I have THIS!

(Just ignore the hot mess in the family room and the paint samples on the wall and the skinny baseboards and crown molding – we actually have the trim in our laundry room waiting to redo alllll of that…it’s just that whole finding time issue…not enough hours in the day…and you know I don’t have the patience to wait and share this banister makeover until that’s all done! 😉

Now, we had some SHINY banisters. I was skeptical about this stuff, because I had heard it’s so amazing that you hardly have to do any prep and sanding – but as I said: SHINY. Lots of poly on here. But I just grabbed a piece of sandpaper (150 grit), and spent just a few minutes roughing it up.

Then I just wiped off the dust, and here’s where it gets tricky, friends:

I opened the can.

I stirred it.

I took out a small foam brush.

And I started painting.

Yes, you should prep your work space, yes, you should tape around your spindles, on the steps, etc, yes, you should wear gloves, yes, you should lay down dropcloths to protect your carpets and floors. You totally should. But sometimes I just get too excited and would rather clean up at the end that take the time to prep in the beginning;) But I also knew that our spindles needed a paint job something awful, so I didn’t care about getting stain on them. (You can see in this pic the nail holes that we never even filled!).

Here’s a close-up shot of my messy stain job and how I fixed it with a small flat brush (once the gel stain was dry):

Worked like a charm. Then I painted the rest of the spindles too, to freshen them up, but they were already white so it was no biggie.

IT. LOOKS. SO. GOOD.

I am blown away at how easy this was. If you give this a go – here are a few things to know: There’s a full day of dry time involved – so be careful about that. We all kept grabbing the banister out of habit;) You don’t realize how much you hold onto that thing until you’re not supposed to! It’s not like it’s super wet, but it does stay kinda tacky for about 24 hours. So maybe do it in the morning and spend the rest of the day elsewhere! Also, it’s stinky, so it’s great to do on a beautiful day when you can open up all the windows.

I only did one coat, and I had read a lot of blogs that needed two – but maybe it had to do with my darker stain to begin with. The ones I read about were a lot of light oak banisters. When you open it up, don’t expect to see a watery stain consistency – this stuff is thick – think chocolate pudding:) And a little goes a reallylong way. I bought a pint and barely made a dent in it. Really, the only thing I worried about was making sure there weren’t any major globs anywhere, that was about it. The rest was smooth sailing.

I didn’t put anything over it – just the gel stain and that was it. I’ll do a follow-up months from now to let you all know how it’s holding up, but this seems like it’ll hold up great…we shall see.

One more before and after shot, just ‘cuz…

Now if I could just find an easy, non-messy way to re-stain the floors a darker color….;)

I just LOVE this look! So fresh and the black/white looks perfect with your colors! It really does transform the whole look of your entry and I love how you numbered your stairs, which i think was a project from awhile ago but the black bannister really brings out the numbers! As always you did a fantastic job!

This looks amazing! I have a few cheap benches I picked up for our new/longer/fancy dining table but the stain on them is all wrong (but the price was right!) I’d planned on trying to strip and restain them, but this might be even easier (because I’m so lazy and I HATE sanding prep!) Thanks so much for sharing!

Hi. This is Beth (your neighbor l, Allison’s friend). I didn’t realize the stain was not water soluble. I went to wash out the brush and what a mess. Luckily I had terpentine. It looks great but I think I need a second coat. Also, I was wondering if you decided to seal it? Or is it holding up ok? Thanks.

This looks beautiful! After thinking about this for awhile and doing some research, I’m going to be brave and tackle this project. I have yellowed oak banisters and can’t stand to look at them for even one more week. Thanks for sharing your project, it looks beautiful. Wish me luck.

so beautiful! we are buying a new handrail, and i want it to be nice and dark but my hubs doesn’t want paint… so I think I’ll do a gel stain. It looks like you didn’t wipe it off–you just did a nice even coat and left it to dry, correct?

This is exactly what I have been wanting to do to my stairs for years. I just retired and this is going to be my first DIY project. Thanks for posting this information. I cant wait to order this stain and get started.

Wow. This is the second time I have seen these and wow. They look incredible. It also made the carpet on your stairs look whiter or is it just me? Where you can look at the before and after at the same time I noticed it. Looks amazing!!

Hi there, I am about to tackle this project. One question- I have a split entry and my fireplace in the living room is a darker brown mantle that you see as soon as you go up the stairs. Should I match the dark brown for my stairs with the mantle or can I do the black?

To get yours that deep dark color did you wipe the stain off after applying or did you just let it stay? If you wiped it down after application how long did you wait? I’m practicing on a scrap piece and it just keeps wiping off to a very slightly darker color but no where near the color you achieved. Tips? Wipe vs no wipe? Thanks and I hope mine turns out half as good as yours!!

Hi, I am just trying this for the first time. It has been a little tricky and I am not feeling too confident about it but in your pictures the finished look looks shiny where as mine are looking dull. Did you ever put a finish/top coat on over the stain? Also have you every tried chalk paint and what would be the difference between chalk paint vs gel stain (Although it is really too late for me I did put the stain on, I am on my third coat, but someone said I “should have” done that, so just wondering. Thanks!

Hi Kirsten. Gel stain and Chalk piant are two totally different products. Gel stain is oil based. It’s a stain. It penetrates into the wood but not as much as a more watery oil based stain like Minwax. The gel stain will rub off over time if you don’t apply a clear-coat over it. Chalk paint on the other hand is a paint that sits on top of the wood. It’s thick and has a very matte finish. You’d need several coats to cover this railing. I also suggest a clear coat over Chalk Paint.

Beautiful job on the railings! I have read that even though the gel stain has a bit of of sheen to it, you do still have to use a clear coat or it will rub off over time. General Finishes top coats are great, but since this is an oil-based product, I like to use Minwax Wipe-on Satin Poly. you can apply it with a rag so it won’t drip.

Wow, absolutely beautiful! You remind me of myself. I get so excited to start a project I jump right in without prepping anything and just clean it up after. Thanks for sharing! My stairs are one of the last projects I need to do in my dining living area and I have been so reluctant to start because of how hard I anticipated it would be with all that shiny poly on he wood. Now after reading your post I have a “I can do this” feeling! . Thanks again.

I’m glad I found this post, and thank you for sharing!. I have VERY similar banisters and spindles and stain color. Ugh. It’s a beautiful house, but I want darker wood, and this product is something sold at a chalk paint and paint products store in Norcross, GA so I can get it there. Knowing I don’t need to worry about wiping it back is HUGE. This would be a great time-saving option until we’re ready to completely replace it all with wrought iron. I wish I knew if this would work on the wood flooring, also. Our wood flooring is very reddish and I hate it.

I’ve used GF gel stain a TON (including recently restaining my entire kitchen – omg) and love it so much, I would marry it if I could. My next project is my stair rail, which is how I found your great post.

JFYI: REALLY have to do at least 1 coat of poly over the top. Ideally 2-3. The word “stain” is kind of a misnomer with this stuff, as it’s actually pigment that sits on top of the surface, and does not seep into it. So it will scuff and scratch for shizzle if you don’t protect it.

I like GF water based poly. Goes on easy, dries awesome. Have to wait 72 hrs after applying gel stain, however, because the stain is oil based. Water based topcoat requires that oil base is suuuuper dry before slapping on the topcoat.

Welcome

Hi there! So happy you’re here. I’m Liz, a busy wife and stay-at-home mom to three kids, with a passion to create a warm and inviting home on a budget. I love decorating, DIY projects, rearranging furniture, shopping my house, and a good yard sale. Oh, and chocolate. I hope you find something on here that inspires you, and thanks so much for stopping by!